Pods Aren't Just for Dolphins: A Weekend @ Jucy Snooze Queenstown

If you’ve been at Travelkin before, you know that we have a soft spot for Jucy. Our super fun weekend at the Christchurch Snooze location seasoned us, and now we are always happy to see that cute Miss Lucy icon, and to experience the simple sustainability that Jucy offers. This time we Snooze’d in Queenstown, and spent a weekend in their famous pods*. I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t sure how this would turn out for us with such young children (7 and 4), but let’s put it this way: there were tears and sadness as we were leaving! This post is about all of the reasons the Queenstown Jucy Snooze Pods are fun and comfortable for families!

 

Girl wearing headphones peeks out of Jucy Pod bed.

 

What are pods?

Pods reimagine the hostel experience, wherein guests share bedrooms, bathrooms, and lounge areas. The appeal of hostels is that the cost is low and it provides mostly young, solo travellers to stay on budget and meet friends at the same time. However, pods add a layer of privacy to the hostel equation. The beds are self-contained and enclosed structures, with pull shades, usb and power plugs, light, and fan. This means you can be in the same room with at most, 7 other people, and still have your own space and some privacy. And while hostels in general, but pod hostels, specifically, may not be made with families in mind, this together but apart space is exactly what our traveling family needs.


Why pods and not just a normal family room?

The kids love them! That is really the first and BEST reason. Out of the mouths of my babes, ‘The pods are cool!’, and ‘They literally have everything you need!’ My oldest (7) jumped into her pod, organised all of her things just so, and pulled her shades by 9pm. This bit of personal, ‘own’ space to leave just as she wanted it made her feel mature. Each pod also has a locker, and the girls loved choosing their own codes, and filling it with their things. At least a couple of hours every day were spent taking things in and out of the lockers, which was great. It kept them occupied and they got to practice numbers. That counts as homeschooling, right?

 

Father and daughter read together from the comfort of a Jucy pod.

 

Traveling with Family and friend? We love traveling with extended family. This includes grandparents, aunts, cousins, and close friends. If you’ve got 8 people, you can easily fill a room, and take advantage of some of that together-apartness that pods offer.

 

Convinced yet? This oughta do it…

Privacy. For the parents, I mean. Did I mention that the pod shades pull down, enclosing it completely? You don’t get this level of potential privacy in a regular family or double room in a hotel. Just saying.

The pods are surprisingly very comfortable. Everyone gets their own bed (as I mentioned), but there was enough room in one bed for me to cuddle Miss Age 4 down to sleep. Speaking of younger ones, request a room near a half bath (like we had) if your children still need middle of the night bathroom runs!

 

Family shares an ice cream sundae at Miss Lucy's restaurant.

 

Miss Lucy Got that Yummy Yummy

We’re not just talking about the cute icon watching over you from the moment you enter the lobby. Miss Lucy’s Rooftop Bar & Pizzeria is stellar. Everything is right; the vibe, the comfort, and the food. Miss Lucy’s specialises in pizza fresh out of the wood fire oven, but you can almost order any combination of the sides and starters and have a deliciously fulfilling meal. Return to Miss Lucy’s for the breakfast buttys and coffee until about 11am. There is a kitchen on premises, but it’s quite small and usually crowded. With Miss Lucy’s in the building, you hardly need it!

Breakfast butty at Miss Lucy's restaurant, Queenstown.

 

Any Pod Cons?

There may be a couple drawbacks to the pods for families. The first is the shared bathroom. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If your are accustomed to shared bathrooms as experienced RV-er’s who frequent camper van parks, this will hardly bother you. Otherwise, it is something to get used to with smaller children.
The second drawback is that there was no window in our pod. And that did impact us. There’s plenty of air, as the pods have fans, and the rooms have air conditioning. But on our last morning, we almost slept past the designated check out time because we were too comfortable in our pods, and didn’t have the sun to wake us up. Yikes! A good alarm clock should take care of that though!


In all, a couple of night in the Juicy pods are fun, adventurous experiences for the whole family.

*Our stay at the Queenstown Jucy Snooze was gifted! Thank you, Jucy!